STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A West Brighton resident has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for killing another man last year during a domestic dispute in Stapleton.

View full sizeStaten Island Advance/Michael OatesSayfuddiyn Plair, 19, of West Brighton is escorted into state Supreme Court last month.

Sayfuddiyn Plair, 20, pleaded guilty last month in state Supreme Court, St. George, to first-degree manslaughter stemming from the death of Emery Miller, 22.

Prosecutors said Plair mortally wounded Miller on Feb. 20, 2011, during an argument that began with the mother of Plair's child in a borough apartment. Miller, a Queens resident, succumbed to his wounds two weeks later, prosecutors said.

The victim was a family friend of Plair's child's mother and had grabbed a bat before Plair stabbed him, according to authorities.

By law, a person is guilty of first-degree manslaughter if he kills another person while intending to seriously injure that person.

After Plair's arrest, his lawyer, Thomas Reilly, contended Plair had acted in self-defense.

The incident happened about 2:20 a.m. on a Sunday, authorities say.

Plair went to an apartment on Hill Street and began arguing with his child's mother, then 19, said authorities. The woman had an order of protection against Plair.

The confrontation grew so heated that the woman's father and brother intervened.

At one point, Miller, who was sleeping over at the apartment, picked up a baseball bat and also jumped in, according to the investigation.

Plair backed up into the kitchen, grabbed a knife and swung it at Miller, fatally wounding him in the chest, said prosecutors.

The suspect, a reputed member of the Bloods gang, then fled, a law enforcement source said.

Miller was taken to Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, in critical condition and died on March 6, 2011.

Plair was later indicted on second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and lesser charges.

Besides prison time, Plair was sentenced Friday to two and a half years' post-release supervision, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan.

Reilly, Plair's lawyer, could not immediately be reached today for comment.